If you are concerned about your Windows Home Server 2011 backup strategy and how it will affect your server performance then you are not alone. We decided to make a video of the scheduled backup in progess and show the CPU and network loads during the backups. Check out the video and see how you can monitor the same stats on your Windows Home Server 2011.

Windows Home Sever 2011 Backups

With the removal of some features from previous Vail builds, many users are left unsure of the security of their data. I am here to tell you now that there are built-in solutions in WHS 2011 that will keep your data secure and even protect your server operating system.

Remember that WHS v1, with folder duplication turned on, copied data in the background with the migrator service. You had no control over that resource. The WHS 2011 backup feature allows you to not only copy data WHEN you want to copy it, but also determine which folders are backed up. For example, if you watch Blu-Ray rips from your server between 8-10 pm each night then schedule your backups before or after that time.

Mental Note: WHS 2011 allows you to determine where to put your folder shares. For example, keep Videos on your 7,200 drives and Documents on your 5,400 drives. This is a great feature!

Windows Home Sever 2011 Backup Strategy

The backup strategy I offer is this:

Set your server backup to run every 30 minutes during “normal” hours.

Do not perform backups during client backup times (12:00 AM to 3:00AM etc.)

Decide on a folder schema that makes sense such as Blu-Rays rips in one folder, DVDs in another, home videos in another, etc. If a folder starts to fill the drive make a new folder such as DVD-2 or “His DVDs” and “Her DVDs”.

Set your backup to protect the folders you need.

Occasionally check your folder sizes to determine if changes need to be made.

Backup Resource Monitoring

We did this video with two backup samples. In the first test we did a 10.3GB set of files that were added between backups. The files consisted of 14 different video files similar to the one shown in the graphic below. The second sample was a “no change” backup with no activity since the last backup.

This video is not a benchmark. It is a real world example of what performance to expect when scheduling and performing a server backup in Windows Home Server 2011. Based on your server hardware specs, your results will vary of course.

Timothy Daleo is a Project Resource Analyst and Oracle Applications Trainer in Pasadena, California. In addition to financial analysis, Tim has been developing training materials since 2003 and supporting direct projects through various auxiliary databases since 2005.